The New Trio and the Madness Within
by Mara Riall
Summary: Harry and his friends have survived the first two years of Hogwarts, and fully expect this year to be a peaceful one. We all know that's not going to happen. Two Death Eaters have decided to break out of Azkaban to seek out the Dark Lord somewhere in Albania, and there's still the whole Horcrux thing that's hanging over their heads. Book 3 of my series re-write, much more AU now.
1. Chapter 1: Break Outs & Owl Posts

Chapter 1: Break Outs and Owl Posts

Antonin Dolohov was a man of simple pleasures: torture, murder, and doing the tasks his Lord demanded of him. If he could have all three, he was ecstatic. He didn't talk much, which was possibly why he'd had a secret for sixteen years. It wasn't a particularly big secret, but he hoarded his privacy like a dragon hoarded treasure, but when he'd been stuck in a high security cell in Azkaban for twelve of those sixteen years, keeping his Animagus status a secret had been child's play. Other than the tiny barred door and window, his cell was in perpetual darkness, so whenever he felt the presence of Dementors nearby, he could simply slip into the darkness and shift, and he would barely be affected. Now, he'd had a vague plan for escaping this hell hole for years, but he had no idea how to find the Dark Lord, let alone bring him back.

However, because he still retained some form of sanity, he had noticed that two years ago, his Dark Mark had become just the slightest bit darker than the barely-there red it had become when the Potter boy had destroyed his Lord's body. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him to use it in an Arithmantic ritual to pinpoint the Dark Lord's position. The downside to the ritual was that it required a blood sacrifice; he would have to make a shallow slice into the Mark and collect the blood that welled there. He preferred avoiding pain if at all possible, so he had to find a way to get through it unharmed. Eventually, he came up with the idea of using someone else's Mark, but then the difficulty arose of picking the right person, because obviously he couldn't do the ritual here, so he'd have to help them escape with him. They had to be loyal to the end, and willing to undergo pain and difficulty to find their Lord. They had to be smart, but not smarter than he was, because when on the run from Wizarding Authorities, the smarter you were, the longer you could hold out—he had no illusions that if he freed someone like Rookwood and escaped with him, then the ex-Unspeakable would no doubt take over his little operation, and he preferred to be in charge, thank you very much. If he was the mastermind behind the escape, then he damn well better be the one behind everything else they did.

This thought led him to the perfect partner for an operation like this: Bellatrix Lestrange. In a criminal organisation where the vast majority of members were violent, sadistic men, the few female members had to be more violent and more sadistic than her comrades. Bellatrix had taken it a step further, though—she'd become very masochistic as well, knowing her Lord sometimes used torture to de-stress, she had volunteered. Antonin had heard whispers that she'd undergone a Dark Arts ritual that replaced pain with pleasure, but he'd known her before she'd entered the Dark Lord's services—hell, they'd been in the same year at Hogwarts, and he'd been the one to _recruit_ her into the Death Eaters—and even then she'd been known to have a pain kink.

Anyway, back to his previous train of thought. Even with his skill in Occlumency, it was still hard to concentrate in Azkaban sometimes.

Once he'd decided that he'd escape with Bellatrix, he'd snuch out of his cell and into hers. To say that she'd been surprised when a white wolf walked into her cell, calm as you please, then turned into Dolohov was actually pretty accurate, because in a world of magic, there was very little that was considered impossible, and even less that could truly surprise people who'd grown up in this world. This just meant that Antonin appreciated her shocked expression while it lasted.

He'd taught Bella the Animagus transformation for the past year and a half, in the hope that her form would be something small that could escape easily. The easy part was the meditation; the hard part was the actual transformation, depending on the size of your animagus form. The closer you and your form were in size and/or weight, the easier the transformation was. It had been fairly simple for him as a wolf because, although it weighed quite a bit less than he did, he was a master Occlumens, and the mental organisation which went along with that had helped him immensely to visualise him becoming the animal. Sadly, Bellatrix had no form of Occlumency whatsoever, so the first six months of the two extra years they spent on the island prison was spent teaching her the necessary meditation and mental organisation techniques necessary. He was extremely excited when she discovered her form to be that of a Margay, the smallest 'big cat', which was known for its small but deadly size, its skill with its needle-like claws, and its ability to climb down a tree face first as if it were as easy as climbing up one.

This happy revelation gave way to Bella only needing two weeks to complete the transformation, and then their escape was as sunoke as slipping out their cells and swimming to Britain. In the great scheme of things, this was nothing. After that, they hunted down two wands, slew their previous owners, and slipped away again into the night to find an acceptable hideout.

oOoOo

 _ **PRISONERS ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN!**_

Harry didn't know what to think about the article, really other than to hope Neville hadn't seen it yet. Without a word, he threw the paper onto the table with the horrifying images of the two deranged killers facing up, and ran to the Floo. "Longbottom Manor!" he called, throwing the Floo powder into the flames and stepping in. He almost fell out the other end in his attempt to get to Neville quickly. He arrived in time to see the _Prophet_ owl handing the paper to Madame Longbottom, and her eyes going impossibly wide.

"Gran?" asked Neville, worried about what could have caused the expression on her face. Then he noticed Harry, standing in the doorway, panting slightly. "Harry? What're you doing here? Where's Draco?"

"Draco's still asleep. I swear, he'd sleep past midday if Sirius would let him. I'm here about the _Prophet_ article your Gran's reading."

"Why, has Skeeter been lying about you again?"

Harry snorted. "No. Nev, I came here because I think it's better for you to hear it from a friend than to see it splashed across the front page. If you still want to read it afterwards, go ahead."

Neville looked quite worried now. Harry went on. "Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov have escaped from Azkaban."

At these words, Neville went white. For ten, long minutes, he just sat there and said nothing, caught up in a flashback. During this, Harry sat down next to him and held him, because he was unknowingly making a high-pitched whining noise in the back of his throat. About two minutes in, Augusta snapped out of her shock and rushed over to her grandson, rocking him and hushing him softly.

Finally, Neville croaked out, "How?"

"They don't know, dear," said his Gran. "They don't know."

It took what seemed like hours for Harry and Augusta to calm Neville down, and by the time they'd put him to bed under a Dreamless Sleep Draught, midday had come and gone. Harry stumbled back through the Floo and was caught by his godfather. "Hey there. Are you okay? Where have you been?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Harry said. "I was at Neville's, helping his Gran calm him down. He went into shock when I told him about Bellatrix. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if he'd seen the _Prophet_. They've made what she did to his parents sound like a horrible drama show on the telly."

Sirius nodded, a dark expression on his face. "The _Prophet_ likes doing that. We've just got to be grateful it wasn't Skeeter who wrote the article."

Harry sighed and rubbed his face. "Has Draco seen it?"

Sirius shook his head. "I guess I had the same idea you did. The only one related more closely to her than him is me, and I figured it would be better if he didn't see the article at all. He's in his room. Oh, before I forget, this arrived for you."

He held out a letter and a small parcel with the chicken-scratch scrawl of Fred and George addressing the letter to 'Our little Harrikins', and couldn't help snorting. He doubted they'd seen this morning's _Prophet_ when they'd sent this letter off, but somehow they'd managed to get it to him with perfect timing. This might be enough to get Draco out of his funk.

He hurried upstairs to Draco's room and knocked on the door. "G'way," came from inside, but Harry opened the door anyway.

"You shouldn't stay hidden in here all by yourself after news like that. Nev's going to be fine, I think. Sirius will be fine, too, and the Weasleys will bounce back just like always. You'll get over it, I promise."

Draco looked up at him from where he was sitting on his bed and sighed. "Merlin, I didn't even think about Neville's reaction. I just heard she was free and freaked out. Er, how were the Weasleys affected by Bellatrix's escape?"

"Not her, Dolohov. He killed Gideon and Fabian, Mrs Weasley's older brothers. Apparently, Fred and George remind her of them a lot, so she's probably going to be really overprotective of them for a while."

"Oh, okay. What're you in here for?" he asked.

"Thought you might like to read Fred and George's letter with me. Bound to be some funny stuff in here. Even when they don't know we're miserable, they find some way to make us better."

Draco gave a small smile and patted the bed next to him in invitation, and Harry sat down next to him, gave him a peck on the cheek, and opened the letter.

 _Dear Harrykins (And Draco, reading over Harry's shoulder),_

 _We're sending you this to wish you an early happy birthday, since we're sure we'll be the first to wish you that._

 _It's brilliant here in Egypt! Loads of tombs and mummies and sphinxes and… well, you get the picture. There's sand_ _**everywhere!**_ _All the curses these old Egyptian wizards put on everything are insane, and they've given us some great ideas for pranks this year! Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one, but we convinced Bill to sneak us and Ginny in when Mum and Dad were asleep. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff._

 _I couldn't believe it when Dad won the_ Daily Prophet _Draw. Seven hundred galleons, and most of it's been spent already on this holiday. We could've all gotten better robes and wands that chose us, and still had some left over for lots of other stuff, like new brooms or something, but six people taking a portkey to Egypt ain't cheap, and Mum and Dad decided it would be better for six to go there now than Mum and Dad going there for Christmas and the rest of us staying at Grimmauld._

 _Anyway, that's enough moping. We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going to Diagon Alley for new books and stuff. Any chance of getting the gang together there?_

 _Try to do more than read, you bookworms,_

 _Gred and Forge_

 _P.S. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week. Almost fainted, the BigHead. First thing he did was send an owl to Ollie,_ _**then**_ _he told Mum. Priorities._

Harry and Draco were snickering away by the time they'd finished reading the letter. Once they were done, Harry opened the parcel and found a Pocket Sneakoscope, along with a packet of colour-changing bubble gum. There was another note attached to the bubble gum.

 _The Sneakoscope is self-explanatory. We tried it out by putting beetles into Bill's soup and it flashed and whistled like crazy, so it works. We got Bill to change the charms on the gum_ — _instead of the gum changing colour, your face changes colour every time you chew. Best part is, when you look in the mirror, your face looks normal, but everyone else sees it change colours. Brilliant pranking material, right?_

"Those two are absolutely brilliant!" exclaimed Draco. Then, he hugged Harry. "Thanks for that. I needed something funny to cheer me up. Let's go and fly outside for a bit, then go over to Neville's and see how he's holding up."


	2. Chapter 2: Marauding in the Alley

Chapter 2: Marauding in the Alley

Harry's birthday was a rather quiet affair. The overall mood was a quiet and brooding one, but it wasn't only because of the prison break; Neville's parents had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and Madame Longbottom was in the middle of discussions with the goblins to see if they would consent to providing healing for Frank and Alice. It wasn't easy, since discussions with the Goblins almost never went your way unless you had something they wanted, and even then you had to prove that what you wanted was worth the goblins' time. The only reason Harry and his godfathers had had such an easy time with them was because they saw Horcruxes as absolute abominations of life and magic, and they had taken it as a personal attack that they'd discovered one in their vaults. Hufflepuff's Cup was currently on its way to Hogwarts, fully cleansed of the soul fraction and the small number of curses which had been placed on it. They had decided to allow Professor Sprout to keep a hold of it, but only until the first time it was damaged—after that, it would remain inside Gringotts for the foreseeable future, unless the Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Hufflepuff arrived, and that didn't seem very likely.

Narcissa and Severus had come back from their honeymoon early, and Draco was now living in Prince Manor full-time. The few times he saw Narcissa, she looked shaken and pale. One good thing that had happened was that she now had the confidence to reach out to her older sister, Andromeda, who, in turn, introduced everyone to her daughter, Nymphadora, or Tonks, as she wanted to be called. A few days were spent simply getting to know the small family of three. Sirius had previously allowed them back into the Black family, and had had a few lunches getting to know his beloved older cousin all over again, so he bowed out of the get-togethers in favour of doing his job as an Auror and attempting to track Bellatrix down.

Eventually, however, the horribly stressful week came to an end, bringing with it the Hogwarts letters. Harry was happily pleased to see the Defence book—Remus had admitted a week ago that he'd been offered the Defence Professor position, and even though they knew Dumbledore had only given him the job to try to get friendly with Harry, they'd decided unanimously that he'd take the job. He might even be able to twist it against the old coot, by becoming 'friendly' with him and pretending to agree with him. It was a dangerous thing to do, though, and Sirius had suggested that they go over what the man wanted from them extensively before committing to anything.

When the twins sent another letter, telling them the days they'd be in Diagon Alley, and that Fred had already made sure that Hermione would be there for one of those days, they made plans to visit the Alley to get their school things. On that day, Narcissa, Severus, and Draco Flooed over to Grimmauld Place for breakfast, closely followed by Augusta and Neville, then Sirius, Harry, Draco, Neville, and Narcissa Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, leaving Remus and Severus behind because they had a staff meeting at Hogwarts in half an hour which would likely take up the rest of the day, and Augusta had a morning tea scheduled with her allies on the Wizengamot to go over a bill they were backing.

The first thing that happened when Harry arrived was his vision being reduced to seeing nothing but the bunch of bushy brown hair which belonged to none other than his favourite know-it-all. The screeching in his ear helped to identify her too. Then, suddenly, she was gone, off to screech a greeting at Draco and hug him just as fiercely, and repeated it again with Neville. Harry simply smiled. Hermione had come a long way from the bossy girl on the Hogwarts Express; having three best friends and a large circle of other friends had mellowed her out, and now that she'd played several pranks and even had a genius prankster for a boyfriend, she was positively cheeky when she knew no one other than the Marauders' Recruits were around. She was a brilliant researcher, and she was the brain behind most of their prank ideas. Having friends had changed her for the better, and she held them all close to her heart whenever she remembered her lonely past in primary school.

Soon, all of the greetings were over, and they all set out to buy their things for the next school year. The first stop was Flourish and Blotts, where they met up with Blaise and his mother, and Harry discovered an Animagus book on a dusty bookshelf in the back. However, when Harry made to put it in the pile of books he wanted to buy, Sirius raised an eyebrow at him and frowned at the book. "Er… I just thought, well, you and dad managed it, and I think it'd be a cool thing to do, you know?"

Then, Sirius winked. "Oh, I have nothing against you guys doing this, it's just that this book is horribly out of date. It's actually the same one we studied from, but it wasn't until seventh year that Remus came across a much better book. See, the reason why so many people think that Animagi are so rare is because the technique in that particular book doesn't work for everyone. There are three different ways to become an Animagus that I know of, and only one of them involves the whole mandrake-leaf-in-mouth thing. That one actually works for the smallest percentage of people, but it's the fastest way. Mandrake leaves have transformative properties, but they're quite expensive, and so big that when you're using one for this, it's almost always obvious that you've got something in your mouth. The second method involves being good at Occlumency and chewing on Chameleon rockweed, which allows you to mentally view what it would look like if you transformed into your form. The rockweed is actually quite rare, and is actually closer to lichen than anything, but a round trip to some rocky islands off the coast of Britain and a plant revealing spell, and you'll find some.

"The last method is the one that works the most often, but is the most dangerous, since instead of Chameleon rockweed, you drink a diluted infusion of wormwood. The wormwood turns the mind inwards, and it can cause hallucinations in strong doses, but with a diluted dose, and your Occlumency to control the hallucinogenic properties, you can focus the effects to find out what your form is."

By the time Sirius' lecture was over, all of Harry's friends were listening to him in wonder. When he finally realised that he was being listened to so carefully by all of them, he cleared his throat awkwardly and asked, "What?"

"I think we're all just surprised that you know so much about potion ingredient properties," said Harry.

"Well, I am an Auror, kids. I had to get my N.E.W.T. in Potions, and Lily joined our little Potions study group halfway through sixth year because Slughorn thought it might prevent us from slacking off so much. She was a lot like you, Hermione, always pushing us to do our best, and once we realised we could do well in school and still have fun and prank people, well, our marks got better really quickly, and I even beat Lily in a Charms test once. Anyway, I've got the good Animagus book at home, so don't bother with buying that outdated drivel."

They all digested this information as they paid for their books and made their way to Madam Malkins'. Most of them had had a growth spurt over the summer, and Sirius had convinced Mrs Weasley to let him buy Ron, Ginny, and the Twins some new school robes in return for her baking him lots of cookies, cakes, and fudge. Harry knew that Grimmauld Place was going to be filled to the brim with the stuff by the end of next week at the latest, and he couldn't wait for the awesome care packages he'd get from home when he was at Hogwarts.

They made their way through the Alley, stopping at most shops just to window shop… especially when they saw the new broom, the Firebolt, displayed so wonderfully in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Their last stop was in the Magical Menagerie, because Harry was out of snake and owl treats, and Hermione had managed to convince her parents to let her get a pet. However, she had no idea how to go about finding the right pet for her, so they waited for her while she walked through all of the sections. Finally, she got to the cats section, and stopped. The reason for stopping was because a kitten had thought it was a good idea to start climbing up the leg of her jeans. It was a tiny little thing, grey all over, and with an odd lighter grey band all around its neck. You could see Hermione melt from the other side of the shop as she carefully plucked the kitten from her pants and held it to her chest.

Whenever Hermione had visited Harry, she'd spent most of her time fussing over Crookshanks, confessing that she'd wanted a cat ever since the first time she'd seen one, but her parents wouldn't let her get one because Mrs Granger was allergic. However, this being the Wizarding world, you could have your cat charmed to be hypoallergenic, and you could also go to St Mungo's to have your allergy neutralised. One potion, taken once every two months for six months, was all it took for almost every common allergy to disappear completely, and it was perfectly safe for Muggles to go through. Hermione had discovered all this in her miscellaneous research, or light reading, as she called it, last year, and had been working on her parents ever since to let her get a cat. The reason why she had left the cat section till last was because she knew it was possible to form an involuntary Familiar Bond if an animal was particularly compatible with her, and she didn't want to discount the possibility that she might not actually be as much of a cat person as she'd always thought she was.

The kitten turned out to be a male Norwegian Forest Cat, and was fondly thought of as an escape artist by the shopkeeper. Hermione could already feel the little cat's wonder with the world in the back of her mind, so she knew he was her Familiar, and bought all the supplies and snacks for the kitten, whom she laughingly decided to call Pants.

With their exit from the Menagerie, their shopping trip was over, and they all made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they had lunch, then each family Flooed back to their homes, except for Neville and Draco, who were staying the night at Harry's place, so they followed Sirius through the Floo back to Grimmauld. There were two and a half more weeks until they left for Hogwarts again, and Sirius had decided to have a prank week to ease the tension everyone was still feeling about the break out. Anyone who was interested could stay the week, and the only safe places were the bedrooms. The trio was looking forward to it, and they were ecstatic that Severus had consented to be there. Draco couldn't wait to prank the hell out of his new dad.


	3. Chapter 3: Doom of Disbelieving Souls

Chapter 3: Dementors and the Doom of Disbelieving Souls

A/N: Okay, to be honest, I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but I think it's going to be closer to twelve than the twenty-two of the original PoA. This is because there isn't actually very much I have planned for the trio's third year other than a tiny little bit of Dementor drama and some progress against old Voldie. Fourth year, though, is going to be different. Better challenges, more champions, and some more ships coming to fruition. Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The last few weeks of the summer holidays passed quickly, bringing with it an abundance of joy, pranks, and laughter, and before Harry really registered the time lapse, he found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾ and greeting his friends as though he hadn't just seen them a few days ago for a Sunday dinner at The Burrow followed by a pick-up Quidditch match. At that time, he and Draco had decided that if one of them got a Firebolt for Christmas, they'd donate their Two Thousand and Ones to the twins, and then he and Draco would switch off playing with the Firebolt and Harry's old Two Thousand.

A week before term started, Remus came back from a Hogwarts staff meeting in a fury. Sirius barely got him to calm down by the time an hour had passed, and when Remus told him what had happened to get him into such a state, Sirius understood perfectly. "That—that _bastard_ , Fudge has demanded that we put Dementors on the border of Hogwarts' grounds to 'protect the poor students from those horrid escaped criminals', and Dumbledore just rolled over and let him! What was Dumbledore _thinking_?"

The week leading up to school was spent teaching Harry, and any of his group who wanted to learn, the Patronus Charm. The most any of them could get was a bit of pathetic white wispy stuff, which wouldn't protect them at all against a Dementor attack, but they'd all vowed to work on it with Remus throughout the year.

The platform was crowded, and there was no sign of the Weasleys yet, but since there was an hour left before the Express left for Hogwarts, that was normal. They seemed to never get anywhere except to the platform on time, and even then, they still cut it extremely close. He knew for a fact part of it was just a result of having so many Hogwarts-age children to get ready, but another part was the twins' fault, since they thrived on chaos, and one of the most potent forms of chaos was the Weasley family on September first if they wanted to get to the platform before the Express left.

At a quarter to eleven, Harry said goodbye to his guardians, waited patiently for Draco to bid farewell to his mother (Severus was already at Hogwarts, and Narcissa would be joining him, because she didn't have a job, after she'd seen Draco off), and for Neville to be hugged by his now overprotective Gran, then dragged them both to the compartment they'd chosen earlier. Shortly after they'd settled down, Luna entered, humming a waltz, and Hermione was close behind, carrying Pants in her arms rather than put him in a carrier and make him complain all the way to Hogwarts.

The five minute whistle came, and shortly afterwards the red-headed clan hurried through the barrier. The children gave quick hugs and kisses to their mother and hurried onto the train, where Fred, George, and Ginny found them, while Ron went off in search of Dean and Seamus. However, these compartments only seated six people, so with five already inside, someone was going to miss out. Then Harry had a cheeky idea; he grabbed Draco and dragged him onto his lap, squawking in surprise and indignity, which let Fred take the window seat opposite Hermione, and George sat next to him. Ginny looked around, slightly hurt she wouldn't get to sit with her primary friends for the eight-hour ride, but then she was grabbed around the waist and pulled back into Luna's lap. She squeaked and tried to stand up, but Luna simply bopped her on the nose and said, "Stay still, you're sitting where you're supposed to. We're not letting you sit alone somewhere else."

Ginny blushed lightly and settled against a still humming Luna, although the tune had changed to a song Harry recognised as 'Little Bitty Pretty One' by Thurston Harris. Harry had fond memories of this song, because it was what Sirius and Remus had danced to at their wedding shortly after they'd taken Harry in, and they always danced to it on their wedding anniversary.

The group continued to chat all through their trip, stopping only temporarily to get some snacks from the trolley lady, and to change into their uniforms, for which they took turns in the compartment while the others stood outside blocking anyone from looking through the glass. When they were an hour away from Hogwarts, however, the train suddenly slowed to a halt. They were all confused, but that quickly disappeared as they saw the window frost over, and their breaths start to become misted.

Ginny took a shuddering breath, saying, "Dementors. Harry, mirror-call Sirius, this is something he needs to know, and then he can let others know, like Madam Bones, the Board of Governors, and Madam Pomfrey. They'll be able to stop this, and Pomfrey can get lots of chocolate for everyone."

Harry agreed, and quickly did as suggested.

They could feel it getting colder and colder as a Dementor got closer to them. Harry started to feel hopeless, he could hear Neville starting to whimper across from him, and Draco was shaking like crazy in his arms. He did what he could to comfort him by pulling him him closer and kissing his neck. It worked a bit, soothing him and allowing him to centre himself a bit.

That was when the unthinkable happened: their door opened slowly, and the mist typical of a Dementor flowed in, chilling them even further than he'd thought possible. He started hearing a woman pleading for her son's life. It was with a jolt that he recognised her voice as his mother's.

The feeling of hopelessness faded a bit as the memory of the first time he'd heard his mother's voice came to him. He'd been seven, and Sirius and Remus had told him a few months ago that they weren't his real parents. He'd known for a year already, but them telling him had really shaken him. That night, he'd had a nightmare of Sirius and Remus dying, and no one else wanting to take him in. When they'd soothed him, one of the things they'd done was show him a Pensieve memory of his mother singing to her pregnant belly, telling the large bump she loved it with all her heart, no matter what.

The living warmth of that memory filled him to the brim, banishing the feelings the Dementor was causing completely. Quickly, he stood up after depositing Draco on the seat and faced the dark creature. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he bellowed, and the mist which poured from his wand coalesced into a shape, which immediately started to drive off the Dementor. He followed it out the compartment and into the hallway, where he made sure it left the train completely. Then, he called his Patronus back to him and saw it was some sort of ape, maybe a small chimpanzee. Once he'd seen it, he staggered back into the compartment and collapsed on Draco.

"Harry!" he exclaimed, concerned.

"'m okay, Draco. Jus' tired."

Draco held him securely as he rested, and it felt like no time at all until the Hogwarts Express finally got to Hogsmeade Station. The students departed and were immediately reassured by the large number of concerned teachers who were handing out large amounts of chocolate. The first-years were taken aside and given hot chocolate as it was explained to them that this was not a normal occurrence. Once they felt better, and the other years had left for some hot chocolate in the Great Hall, Warming Charms were applied to the firsties and they went to the boats with Hagrid to cross the lake.

oOoOo

The trio's first day started with double Divination. When they finally managed to find the classroom, they were choked by the horrible fumes. Draco whispered, "I swear it smells like sherry-scented incense in here."

Harry and Neville sniggered quietly, while Hermione huffed hotly behind them. "We haven't even had our first lesson yet, and already you three are insulting the teacher!"

Harry immediately sobered. "Hermione, I'm only here to see if she can help me learn to control my Magesight. If she can't, or she doesn't care, then I'm going to transfer to Arithmancy immediately. I know that she's got a bit of the Sight at least, since she _has_ given a true prophecy before, one that led to me being targeted by Voldemort because he found out about it. However, she apparently hasn't had any True Visions since, and is widely thought of as a fraud."

Hermione and Draco gaped, and Neville clapped him on the shoulder. He and Neville had been told that a prophecy existed a few years ago, but not what it said. Instead, they'd been told to trust that their guardians would do what adults in charge of children were supposed to do: take care of the kids and encourage them to pursue relatively carefree lives. Harry knew that sooner or later he'd be told what the words of the prophecy were, but he also knew that the adults helping him were doing their best to make sure whatever it was he had to do was as easy for him as possible.

"You've never mentioned that before," Draco whispered.

Harry hung his head. "Neville could have been the prophecy child too, so we were told about it before we started Hogwarts. We were encouraged not to think about it, because they didn't want to stress us out, or distract us from making friends and having fun in school. Sirius, Remus, and Nev's Gran have been looking into how to sway the prophecy in our favour as much as possible for years, and they've apparently succeeded quite a bit, too. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Dray, but it's not a very important part of my life, and I don't think about it. I was going to tell you eventually, but things have been so stressful lately that it always slipped my mind."

Draco shifted closer to Harry and hugged him tightly. "Don't scare me like that again! I forgive you, but just remember that we're together, so we're a team. I don't want to be just an afterthought, just a, 'oh, I suppose I'd better tell him this someday,'. I _want_ to be with you, and I want both of us to be happy and alive."

Draco gave him a short peck on the lips, then changed the subject. "So, how many bottles of sherry d'you think she's had today?"

This set them and Neville off giggling again, and even Hermione cracked a small grin. Then, from the shadows came a soft, misty voice. "Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

The person that emerged from the shadows reminded Harry heavily of a large, glittering insect. She had a very thin body, and her every step caused a tingling noise to come from the many beads, chains, and bangles, which she had draped over her body. Her eyes were magnified to several times their natural size by her large, thick glasses.

Professor Trelawney waxed poetic about how mystical her subject was, and how important it was to know how to use things like tea leaves and crystal balls, the whole time making small 'predictions' which would probably end up becoming self-fulfilling because she'd 'warned' them. Draco seemed to have adopted a sneer ten minutes in to the lesson, and when they were told to drink from the teacups, he said, "Excuse me, Professor, do you happen to have any Earl Grey? It's only, I've experienced more accurate readings from that than any other tea I've tried."

Harry had to hold back a snort. The only reason Draco had taken Divination was because Harry, Neville, and Hermione had decided to take it. Draco had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever, and was of the opinion that it was the most wooly subject anyone could ever take. That didn't mean he didn't believe that some people _had_ the sight, only that those who did often preferred to stay out of the limelight lest they be captured by enemies and forced to See for them.

Trelawney turned to Draco and slowly walked over. "You'll forgive me for saying so, dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future, or indeed, most, if not all, metaphysical outlets."

Draco arched one eyebrow, knowing his magical aura reading talent certainly counted as a metaphysical outlet. Harry, who had drank his tea while listening to his teacher insult his boyfriend, spoke up. "I suppose then, Professor, Draco has no business being here?"

"Indeed, my boy." Harry clenched his teeth at the epithet. "There is little or nothing I can teach young Mr Malfoy, I am afraid."

Harry stood up, and because of the way the classroom was structured, he towered over her slight form. "His name is Draco Prince. Malfoy has not been his surname since shortly after he arrived at this school."

Draco stood as well. "With your beloved _Sight_ ," he spat the word at her, "you should have known that."

He picked up his things and strode out of the classroom. Harry collected his things as well. "You have insulted him, so you have insulted me. I predict you'll be losing more than one student today."

He followed Draco out of the room, and found him just outside the classroom, shaking mad and screaming silent insults. Obviously, he'd put a Silencing Charm over the area. Harry approached him and felt where the charm's boundary was. He slipped through and was instantly inundated with Draco insulting Trelawney's name, her mother, and her circumstances of birth, among other things. Harry quickly grabbed him and held him, whispering soothing words in his ear until he calmed down. Once he'd finished, he hugged Harry back and said, "Thank you."

They let go of each other to see their two friends waiting just outside the silencing bubble for them. Draco blushed and cancelled the charm. "Well! That went well! Let's go to McGonagall and beg her to put us in Arithmancy."

Neville and Hermione nodded, but Neville spoke. "First, group hug."

They laughed lightly and complied, then made their way to McGonagall's office. No one insulted any of them and had their reputation survive.


	4. Boggart Battles and History Hijinks

Chapter 4: Boggart Battles and History Hijinks

A/N: Okay, Chapter 4. The idea for the prank I got from Partially Kissed Hero by Perfect Lionheart. If you haven't heard of it, go check it out! Enjoy!

McGonagall was ecstatic when the four friends turned up and asked her if they could change their electives. She happily complied. Hermione had asked for Care of Magical Creatures instead of Arithmancy, because she already did that subject. Originally, she'd chosen Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies, but when she'd gone to Flourish and Blotts and seen how horribly outdated the curriculum was, she'd decided to switch to Divination, because she knew that all three of her friends were taking it. She'd tried to convince Neville of how behind Muggle Studies was, and he'd wholeheartedly agreed because he'd had excursions to the Muggle world with Harry, Sirius, and Remus when he'd been younger. However, he had still decided to do the subject because he wanted to set up a unique plant nursery when he grew up—the main part would be for Muggles, and there would be an entrance to the magical section similar to the entrance to Platform 9 ¾, as well as a Floo and an Apparition point. This plan assured him a foot in both worlds doing something that he loved, but in order to get the licence from the Ministry, he'd have to have a NEWT in Muggle Studies. "Besides," he'd said, "Imagine all the pranks we can pull on the purebloods who think that it's up to date!"

Soon after they'd successfully had their electives changed, it was time for Transfiguration, where they watched McGonagall shift into her cat form and back, and then found out that after they'd left Divination, Trelawney had claimed that she'd seen the Grim in Harry's future. Harry inwardly snorted and made a mental note to tell Sirius. He was sure his godfather would get a kick out of it; after all, his Animagus form was a Grim-hound.

The four of them left the lesson still smothering their laughter at Lavender and Parvati, who seemed to be convinced that everything Trelawney said was true. They made their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, since they had a free period and they'd organised with Remus and the rest of the Marauder's Recruits that they would set up a long-term prank, and they needed her help to pull it off. Luckily, it didn't take too long to convince her since she'd wanted to be a teacher when she'd been alive, and the four of them plus ghost rushed to the location of their prank to pull it off.

Satisfied, they left the Binns' office an hour later and headed down to lunch.

oOoOo

Nothing much happened until Thursday. When they got to Defence, Remus wasn't there, so the class sat down, took out their books and started talking. He soon arrived however, and instructed them to put their books away and follow him, as they were having a practical lesson. This excited them all, since the last practical lesson that the majority of the class had had was last year, when Lockhart had set the Cornish Pixies loose. Not a lesson any of them wanted to remember. Those who'd been tutored by Remus last year were looking forward to the lesson because his practical lessons were brilliantly devised and taught everyone something.

The class filed out of the classroom after their professor and followed him to the staff room, which was empty except for one teacher: Professor Snape. True to his pretend dungeon-bat character, he sneered and left, muttering about imbecilic Gryffindors.

"Now then," said Remus, beckoning them towards the end of the room, where the only piece of furniture was an old wardrobe. As he stood next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall behind it.

"Nothing to worry about," he said as a few people jumped backwards in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there."

While most of the class looked like they certainly _were_ worried about the Boggart, Remus quickly calmed them down and went on a short question-and-answer style lecture to get everyone in the mood for his lesson. He finished off with saying, "The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing."

He went over the Riddikulus Charm, then called on Parvati and asked what she was most afraid of.

"A-a mummy," she stuttered.

Remus smiled kindly. "Perfectly acceptable to be afraid of them. Well then, Parvati, how would you make a mummy funny?"

"Er… make the bandages and the head fall off?" she suggested.

"Excellent! Now, you stand in front of the wardrobe and when I open it, the Boggart will burst out and see you, and will assume the form of a mummy. You will raise your wand and shout, 'Riddikulus', and concentrate hard on how you want to make it funny. If all goes well, the Boggart mummy will unravel and its head will fall off, like you wanted."

The class burst into giggles, and the wardrobe wobbled more violently.

"Once that has happened, I would like you all to form a line, because it will likely turn its attention to us in an attempt to scare us. Take a moment to think of the thing that scares you the most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical."

The room went quiet. Last week, Remus had explained to Harry what he planned to do this lesson, but he'd also asked him what he should do about Harry's Boggart. Harry had encountered a Boggart when he'd been nine, and it had taken the form of a dead Sirius and Remus. Remus had explained that he didn't think it was a good idea to show his Boggart's form to a bunch of gossiping thirteen-year-olds. Harry had agreed, and suggested that he make it look like Harry and Neville simply didn't get to have a turn because the class was over. When Remus had looked puzzled over why he'd suggested Neville didn't participate either, Harry had told him that Bellatrix had escaped Azkaban, and that it was likely that she might be Neville's Boggart form. Remus had Flooed over to Neville's and explained his first lesson, and Neville had agreed that it was very likely true.

Therefore, when the class had formed a line behind Parvati, Harry and Neville quickly went to the back of the line, followed by an understanding Draco, but a frowning Hermione took her place behind Ron, eager to succeed. The wardrobe door burst open, and a blood-stained, bandaged mummy walked slowly towards Parvati, dragging its feet, stiff arms raising **—**

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.

Some of the mummy's bandages unravelled, and the mummy fell forward, head falling off in the process. The class sniggered, and Parvati, satisfied, walked to the back of the line.

Seamus, as next in line, darted forwards. _Crack!_ Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face—a banshee. She started wailing, and Seamus shouted, "Riddikulus!"

The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. Lavender made her way before the Boggart, and _Crack!_ A rattlesnake hissed and writhed in front of her. When she cast the charm, the rattlesnake's rattle turned into a baby's rattle and flew off its tail and hit it in the head.

Next was Dean, whose Boggart was a severed hand which quickly became trapped in a mousetrap. Ron was next, and with a _crack_ , the hand became a huge spider, which had its legs vanished when Ron shouted, "Riddikulus!"

Hermione was up next, and the rolling spider became a disappointed-looking McGonagall, who said that Hermione had failed all her classes, and that she would have to leave the Wizarding World and never return. Hermione was so shocked that she froze and gasped.

Remus, seeing she couldn't do it, stepped in front of her, and McGonagall vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery white orb hanging in the air in front of Remus, who said, "Riddikulus!" in an almost lazy manner.

The Boggart became a cockroach, and Remus shouted, "Finish it off, Parvati!"

Parvati charged forward looking determined, and once it had become the mummy again, she shouted, "Riddikulus!" and its head fell off again. She gave a loud, "Ha!" and the Boggart exploded into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, which disappeared.

"Excellent!" cried Remus as everyone started clapping for Parvati. "Well done, everyone. Let's see now… five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart—ten for Parvati, because she did it twice—and five for everyone who answered my questions at the beginning. For homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarise it for me, due on Monday. That will be all."

oOoOo

History turned out to be a blast. At first, everyone was confused, because Professor Binns was nowhere to be seen, then Myrtle appeared out of the blackboard. "Sorry all, Professor Binns is tied up at the moment."

The quartet snorted.

"Now. He hasn't left any notes, so I've had to make some lesson plans out of the blue. With some help, I've decided to show you an informational recording on how, long ago in a different galaxy, people saw and used magic very differently to the way we do. I must warn you, you won't find any resources on this in the library, because it isn't actually that well-known by the people in the Ministry, or most of the Professors in Hogwarts. You see, in that galaxy, the Statute of Secrecy didn't exist, and there were many wars as a result. This war is split up into three parts, and the first part we'll be watching today. Mr Finnegan, please tap this rune with your wand."

Seamus did as asked, tapping the rune on the old-style projector, turning it on. At first, the screen showed only black, then some blue script appeared, saying, 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…'

This too, disappeared, and then the music came.

All the purebloods and quite a fair few of the halfbloods reared back in surprise at the loud noise. Harry could see the muggleborns looking excited.

By the time the movie was over, everyone was entranced with the story, including the pranking quartet and Myrtle herself. When the credits ended, Myrtle had Seamus tap a different rune to rewind the movie reel, then the off rune. Then she faced the class. "Did we all enjoy that?"

Everyone shouted, "Yes!"

She smirked. "Well then, I think you won't mind the homework."

There were some groans throughout the class, but the overall attitude was a curious one. Harry was also curious, because their prank had simply been to show the movie and pretend it was real. It seemed she was taking her new role as a teacher seriously. "Since this is the first essay on a recording any of you have done, I'll make it simple: a foot and a half on how having a Statute of Secrecy would have helped them, and how _not_ having one has impacted the relationship between the different races. To help you, there are illustrated lists of Star Wars races on my desk, one booklet per person."

The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw third-years exited their History of Magic class happy and babbling about Star Wars.


	5. Chapter 5: Progress

Chapter 5: Progress

Harry visited Remus after their successful History prank. He knocked on the door to his office, which immediately opened and Remus peeked his head out. "Oh! Hello, Harry. I was wondering when you'd come to visit your spare godfather," he said, winking, when he spotted it was Harry outside his door.

Harry grinned. "Well, I had lots to do this week, you know. Pranks to pull, friends to catch up with, boyfriends to impress."

Remus laughed heartily and let him in. "Tea?"

Harry nodded happily and sank down into one of the two armchairs in the room. Remus called for a house elf and politely asked for tea, which appeared on the coffee table not two seconds after the elf squeaked in happiness and disappeared. Once they'd made up their tea the way they liked it, Remus leant back in his own armchair and sighed, content. "So, cub, what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to talk, mostly. Also, I wanted to tell you about what happened on the train." Harry sat up excitedly. "I managed to produce a full-bodied Patronus!"

Remus' eyes were wide as he nodded. "I heard something of the sort, but one can never be too sure of the truth behind a rumour. What memory did you think of?"

Harry blushed. "It… well, remember when you showed me the memory of Mum singing to me and telling me she loved me, no matter what?"

Remus smiled sadly. "I do, and I daresay that is the best memory I could have thought of for you to use. I'm so proud of you, doing something that most adult wizards can't. This really goes to prove how powerful you are; it's probably a very good thing you have such a powerful wand, one with a dual core, no less. I dare say that any lesser wand would probably have been fried by the amount of magic you regularly push through it."

Harry agreed, then a thought came to him. "Remus, you know lots about animals, right?"

Remus nodded.

"Well, I was wondering if I could cast my Patronus, and you could maybe tell me what it is? I mean, I can't exactly cast it and look through books to see what it is, can I?"

Remus laughed. "I suppose you can't. Well, all right then. Cast it, but if you can't manage it right now, don't worry. Just because you cast it once, doesn't mean you can all the time, and if you can't I can get the memory from you and look at it in the Pensieve."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, then stood up and closed his eyes and thought of the memory. The love he felt from his mother filled him up, and a slight smile unknowingly made its way onto his face. Remus knew he'd manage to cast it.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry incanted, opening his eyes, and the small ape Patronus burst from his wand and made one circuit around the room, floating over the desk and the armchairs, then stopped next to its maker and looked around expectantly.

Remus stood and made his way towards the Patronus, crouching down once he reached it. He looked carefully at the face and the way it held itself. Nodding in agreement with himself, he stood, his knees creaking, and sat back down in his seat. "You can let her go now, Harry," he suggested.

Harry let the spell go and sat back down, breathing deeply. "Well?" he asked between gasps.

"Your Patronus is a female Bonobo Ape, Harry. Bonobos are well-known to be fun-loving, matriarchal, and peaceful. This makes sense, because Patroni represent their casters, and you are fun-loving, and would prefer to live a peaceful life, even if so far you haven't managed to achieve it this year," he said, winking. "As to the matriarchal aspect, I can only guess that it took this form because of the love you felt from Lily in that memory. You see, contrary to what I told you and your friends, when I first started teaching you the Patronus Charm, about needing a happy memory to fuel it, you need more than simple happiness. You need to feel love **—** unconditional, all-consuming love—and let it fill you up. Sirius and I truly hadn't expected you to come into contact with a Dementor so early on in your life, but we taught the Patronus Charm to you all in the same way we were taught in seventh year. The realisation that feeling love in a memory overpowers feeling happiness or joy in one is something that every person needs to make for themselves. If you simply tell someone they need to think about love, it'll often lead to blushing and disbelief. I suppose I could have told you all to think about what you feel when you're held by your mother, but you and Neville don't have any memories of that kind, and that would have led to trouble and both of you feeling like you'll never manage it."

Harry was listening intently, soaking in the extra information greedily. True, it was a hard pill to swallow that there were some things that he had to figure out himself in regards to magic, but he understood what Remus was saying. "So, how did all that transfer into me getting a Bonobo Ape as a Patronus?" he asked.

"There are three types of Patronus forms: the first is a physical representation of your animal form, so basically what your Animagus would be; the second is a manifestation of something you deeply desire or love, which is the most common cause of your Patronus changing form into an animal with similar qualities to those your desire or loved one has, so like mine is a Grim-hound and Sirius' is a wolf, when they used to be the other way around when we were younger; the third is an animal based on the first memory you used to successfully cast a full-bodied Patronus. I think you have the third one, since I remember you telling me about that prank you and your friends pulled at the beginning of last year, with giving everyone the snouts or noses of their inner animal. If I have it right, your Animagus form is most likely an ermine, like your snout from the prank. You can't have the second type, since from what I know of those you love, I don't think that the Bonobo fits any one of them. That leaves the third one."

After that, they talked of other things, like how Harry was doing in his classes, and what was going to be the the future of the History prank. Their visit ended with Remus telling Harry that Sirius was finally taking steps to oust Dumbledore from his Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump positions in the Wizengamot and ICW respectively, and that Sirius would start to teach the Marauders' Recruits the Animagus transformation over winter break. They were all to prepare for it by meditating for at least fifteen minutes each day before they went to sleep, and slowly increase the meditation to half an hour over the five weeks until the break.

oOoOo

Time faded into an almost monotonous stream of classes and homework, although the History classes were just getting better. By the beginning of November, they'd worked their way through the other two Star Wars movies, Jurassic Park, and the Indiana Jones movies, which all provided some entertainment while still being informative and full of history. The Indiana Jones movies were particularly interesting, because Myrtle had them writing essays on the magical artifacts found in them, and the history behind them.

Then, the day before their first Quidditch match, two things happened very close to one another. The first was that they watched Ghostbusters in History, and the tale spread throughout the school very quickly, terrifying the ghosts of the school, until Myrtle quickly took them aside to explain that it was actually just part of a larger prank. For the rest of the month, it was common to find groups of people singing the theme song throughout the school.

The second thing that happened was that Harry had discovered Luna standing next to his bed that morning, and had dragged him with her to the Room of Requirement. She'd told him to ask for the Room of Hidden things, and when he'd done that and asked her for an explanation, she told him that the Grey Lady, who it turned out was actually Helena Ravenclaw, had confessed to her where Ravenclaw's diadem was, because she had thought that the Ghostbusters story was true and she'd decided to tell someone what her deepest secret was, and where it was hidden. She'd told Luna (because she trusted that Luna was, above all, good to the core) that a man called Tom Riddle had defiled it with Black Magic, and then hidden it from the world, trusting that he was the only one who could find that particular room, despite the obvious sign that it was where lost objects were taken by the elves if there was no name anywhere on them, hence the name Room of Hidden Things.

After that revelation, Harry called Dobby and asked him if he could bring Draco and Remus, because he knew that Draco's magical aura sensitivity would help them pinpoint the location of the possible Horcrux, and because he knew if he didn't include one of his guardians or Professor Snape, then all three of them would kill him.

Once the two had arrived, it took a little bit less than half an hour to find the beautiful diadem, which was swiftly placed in a transfigured wooden box by Remus. Once that was done, Remus left the three of them to look through the room while he took the Horcrux through the Floo in his office and straight to Gringotts for the Horcrux-tracking procedure the Goblins had unearthed in Egypt and told them about.

Draco ended up calling Dobby to get the rest of their group so they could go through the entire room and look for anything useful. He was gobsmacked when he found a collection of rare jewels, each of them a different size ranging from smaller than his pinky fingernail to as big as his fist. Hermione and Luna, of course, ended up salivating over a huge collection of books about lots of different subject, some of them looked like they were at least seventy years old. Fred and George found some antiquated prank items from fifty years ago which still had the Zonko's label on them. Harry found a small stack of wands, and although some of them were broken in some way, most of them still seemed to be in working condition. Neville discovered that there was an old Venomous Tentacula plant in a corner of the room, and told them he'd be back once the place was more cleaned up with Professor Sprout to get it out of there.

Once they'd thoroughly explored the room to their heart's content, they left, promising the things they'd discovered that they'd be back to take them to a better place where no one would be able to steal them away. Then it was off to Quidditch practice for the twins, Harry, and Draco, since Oliver was being even more fanatical than usual in his last year at Hogwarts.


	6. Chapter 6: Destruction

Chapter 6: Destruction

That night was the full moon, which Harry really should have remembered, but there was just so much _work_ to do that it had simply slipped his mind. Luckily, Sirius hadn't forgotten, and he'd spent the night in his Animagus form curled up with Remus in his office. Harry learned this because he saw Sirius sitting next to Remus at the Head table at breakfast. It took him a moment to figure it out, and the second he did he felt horrible. He'd summoned Remus instead of Severus to help them with the Diadem Horcrux just hours before the full moon's rise, after all. However, Draco noticed he looked upset and asked him what was wrong; they had a Quidditch match against Slytherin and couldn't affort to be distracted. When Harry explained to his boyfriend, Draco simply scoffed and tugged him up to the staff table. "Harry feels guilty for not remembering about last night," he drawled as soon as they were close enough not to be overheard by the students behind them.

Sometimes, Harry thought, it really paid to have Draco by his side. Even when they hadn't been together, Draco had always been able to bring him out of his moods, and Harry had done the same thing for Draco, especially in first year. This confrontation that went directly to the point was just the latest example. When he looked up at Sirius and Remus, they were looking up at him with kind, yet exasperated expressions. Well, Remus also looked bone tired, but that was to be expected.

"Harry," Sirius sighed, "honestly. You can't think of everything, you know. Remus has told me about how hard you're working this year, with Os and Es in every subject, even Potions! Besides, you know as well as I do that with your new subjects there's an awful lot of work to do to consistently get those marks."

Harry blushed. "I know, but still…"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Harry huffed. "Okay, fine. I won't be so hard on myself. Happy?"

Sirius simply grinned and made shooing motions back to the Gryffindor table. Harry, used to this behaviour from Sirius, simply grinned back and started walking in slow motion, so slowly that it took him five minutes to get past Remus' position, by which time said man had fallen out of his chair because of how hard he was laughing. Everyone else sat at the Head Table was also laughing, although in Severus' case it was simply a matter of rolling his eyes and sneering, while his eyes showed how amused he was.

Harry and Draco walked back to the Gryffindor table and sat down to eat. Once they'd satisfied Oliver, who'd been hovering behind them for the last ten minutes of the meal, they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch in the pouring rain and the ferocious wind. Harry was most definitely _not_ looking forward to this match.

The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Oliver's usual pre-match pep talk, but all that escaped him was a strangled garble and a gulp, followed by him hopelessly shaking his head and beckoning them to follow him.

Somehow, the wind had gotten worse during the time they were safe inside the change rooms, for they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the pitch. Huge rolls of thunder reverberated over their heads, and caused them to be unable to hear anything. The rain was so thick they could barely see five centimetres in front of them; Harry was just glad he hadn't needed glasses since he'd gotten them fixed when he was ten. He had no idea how he was going to be able to see the Snitch though, unless it decided to try to fly up his nose.

By this time, the bedraggled Slytherins had made their way onto the pitch too. They'd tried complaining for a week beforehand about the approaching storm, trying to get out of playing, but Professor McGonagall had stayed firm and rebutted everything they and Snape had said. The customary hand-crushing attempts took place, then Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount your brooms."

Harry freed his right foot from the mud temporarily, only to submerge it again once he'd mounted his broom. He saw Madam Hooch inhale and put the whistle to her lips, then barely heard the sound it made. They were off.

oOoOo

Two hundred miles to the south, two figures were stepping into a very old, ramshackle hovel, their noses screwed up in distaste. The first figure was clearly male, and had a commanding, yet secretive air about him, and the second was clearly female, with an emaciated frame and wild curls of black hair cascading to her hips. The woman held in her arms what may have appeared at first to be a newborn baby held in a swaddle of cloths, but if one were to get closer than was at all safe, the baby would be shown to be a horrifyingly mutated thing. Its body was a ghastly green colour and so very thin, for a start, then there was the fact the face appeared to have no nose, simply slits like a reptile, a lipless, violent slash for a mouth, and its eyes were a blood red and the shape of the pupils were terrifyingly reminiscent of a snake's.

"Antonin," said a high, cold voice, which came from the baby-thing. "Beware the ring has an incredibly strong Compulsion Charm. It would not do for my servant to put it on and die within a month."

Antonin bowed and cautiously walked further into the shack. There, two thirds of the way into the second room, was the Dark Mark carved into a floorboard, just as his Lord had said before they'd begun this journey. It hadn't taken him and Bellatrix very long to find the Dark Lord, and the past few months had been taken up by breaking into Dark households abroad and researching in their book collections. Finally, a month ago, they'd come across a way to allow their Master to regain a corporeal form, albeit a very limited one. They'd quietly collected all the elements for the Homunculus ritual, which included a newborn of under a month old stolen on the full moon and some forcefully taken unicorn blood.

The ritual had been a success, and the Dark Lord was fed a mixture of unicorn blood and the venom of his familiar, Nagini. Now, they were collecting the most easily-accessible of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, which was going to be sacrificed during the next summer solstice in a ritual so he could regain the body he'd had before Potter-Black had destroyed it. After that, he would be making Nagini a Horcrux, replacing the ring.

Antonin knelt down and removed the floorboard, then gingerly lifted out the metal box that the ring was in, ignoring the Compulsion Charm as best he could. The Dark Lord had placed Muggle-repelling, anti-destruction, and anti-magic wards, among other things, around the property to prevent anyone from destroying the shack and the precious treasure it held. Once that was done, he made his way back to his companions and left with them. Antonin couldn't wait to cause mayhem and destruction once the Dark Lord was once more terrorising Great Britain.

oOoOo

Harry woke with a groan, startling the team members huddled around his bed. Well, all but his boyfriend, who had been sitting next to him on the bed, holding his hand and quietly watching him stir and wake up. He opened his eyes slowly, looked at the ceiling, then closed them again with a groan. He knew that ceiling. He was in the Hospital Wing. He heard a quiet snicker from Draco, which caused his mouth to curl up into a smile despite the pain he was feeling. Every inch of him felt as though it had been beaten to a pulp.

He opened his eyes again, and this time looked at his visitors. The Quidditch team, plus Sirius, Remus, Neville, and Hermione, were standing around his bed, the team looking just as battered as he felt, splattered in mud from head to toe, and Neville and Hermione looking like they'd jumped into the Black Lake fully-clothed.

"Harry!" exclaimed Fred, who looked very pale underneath all the mud. "How're you feeling?"

"Terrible. What happened? The last thing I remember is casting my Patronus to stop a Dementor. Come to think of it, what was a Dementor doing on the Quidditch pitch?"

The twins shot a glance at each other. "It was a whole swarm of them," said George. "At least fifteen of them. You were surrounded by them, and your Patronus failed."

"You fell," said Draco in a haunted voice, his eyes bloodshot. "It must have been at least fifty feet."

"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking. Draco closed his eyes in horrified remembrance and buried his head in Harry's shoulder. Harry's free hand automatically came up to hold him.

"What about the match?" Harry asked, his primary confusion alleviated.

"Draco saw you fall, and raced to catch you," said Sirius. "See, Angelina had been knocked unconscious by a Bludger, and Draco abandoned the Quaffle to get you. Barely managed it, and called for a time out. Angelina woke up and insisted she continue playing, so Draco became Seeker."

At this, Harry felt Draco put something into his hand, and he looked down. In his hand, he held the Snitch. Harry grinned and kissed the top of Draco's head. "Well done! I'm so proud of you!"

Draco smiled shyly into his shoulder and lifted his head away. "Thanks. I could barely concentrate, I was so worried about you."

"But you managed it," said Remus.

Draco blushed lightly.

Then, something occurred to Harry. "What about my broom?" he asked.

The suddenly tight expressions all around his bed told him something bad had happened.

"Well… when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "And?"

"It… well, it hit the Whomping Willow, Harry," finished Neville. "Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came round."

Harry could do nothing but stare in anguished silence as he reached down for a bag at his and Hermione's feet and placed it gently on the bed so he could see the mangled and splintered remains of his faithful broomstick, now nothing more than sodden kindling.


End file.
